1 Samuel 6
6
The Philistines Return the Ark to Israel
1The ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory for seven months. 2The Philistines called for the priests and for those who practice evil magic. They wanted their advice. They said to them, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, don’t send it back to him without a gift. Be sure you send a guilt offering to their god along with it. Then you will be healed. You will find out why his power has continued to be against you.”
4The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”
Their advisers replied, “There are five Philistine rulers. So send five gold rats. Also send five gold models of the growths in your bodies. Do it because the same plague has struck you and your rulers alike. 5Make models of the rats and the growths that are destroying the country. Give honor to Israel’s god. Then perhaps his power will no longer be against you, your gods and your land. 6Why are you stubborn, as Pharaoh and the people of Egypt were? Israel’s god was very hard on them. Only then did they send the Israelites out. Only then did they let them go on their way.
7“Now then, get a new cart ready. Get two cows that have just had calves. Be sure the cows have never pulled a cart before. Tie the cart to them. But take their calves away and put them in a pen. 8Then put the ark of the Lord on the cart. Put the gold models in a chest beside the ark. Send them back to the Lord as a guilt offering. Send the cart on its way. 9But keep an eye on the cart. See if it goes up toward Beth Shemesh to its own territory. If it does, then it’s the Lord who has brought this horrible trouble on us. But if it doesn’t, then we’ll know it wasn’t his hand that struck us. We’ll know it happened to us by chance.”
10So that’s what they did. They took the two cows and tied the cart to them. They put the calves in a pen. 11They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart. They put the chest there along with it. The chest held the gold models of the rats and of the growths. 12Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh. They stayed on the road. They were mooing all the way. They didn’t turn to the right or the left. The Philistine rulers followed them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13The people of Beth Shemesh were working in the valley. They were gathering their wheat crop. They looked up and saw the ark. When they saw it, they were filled with joy. 14The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. It stopped there beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood the cart was made out of. They sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15Some Levites had taken the ark of the Lord off the cart. They had also taken off the chest that held the gold models. They placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings to the Lord. They also made sacrifices to him. 16The five Philistine rulers saw everything that happened. On that same day they returned to Ekron.
17The Philistines sent gold models of growths as a guilt offering to the Lord. There was one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 18They also sent five gold models of rats. There was one for each of the Philistine towns that belonged to the five rulers. Each of those towns had high walls around it. The towns also had country villages around them. The Levites set the ark of the Lord on the large rock. To this day the rock is a witness to what happened there. It’s in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19But some of the people of Beth Shemesh looked into the ark of the Lord. So he struck them down. He put 70 of them to death. The rest of the people were filled with sorrow. That’s because the Lord had killed so many of them. 20The people of Beth Shemesh said, “The Lord is a holy God. Who can stand in front of him? Where can the ark go up to from here?”
21Then messengers were sent to the people of Kiriath Jearim. The messengers said, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”
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1 Samuel 6: NIrV
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Shemu’ĕl Aleph (1 Samuel) 6
6
1And the ark of יהוה was in the field of the Philistines for seven new moons.
2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What do we do with the ark of יהוה? Let us know with what we should send it to its place.”
3And they said, “If you send away the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, do not send it empty, but you shall certainly return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you are going to be healed, and it shall be known to you why His hand does not turn aside from you.”
4And they said, “What is the guilt offering which we return to Him?” And they answered, “The number of the princes of the Philistines: five golden tumours and five golden rats. For the same plague was on all of you and on your princes.
5“And you shall make images of your tumours and images of your rats that ruin the land, and you shall give esteem to the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl. It could be that He does lift His hand from you, from your mighty ones, and from your land.
6“And why do you harden your hearts as the Mitsrites and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not send them away, and they went?
7“And now, take and make a new wagon, and two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the wagon. And take their calves home, away from them.
8“And take the ark of יהוה and put it on the wagon. And put the objects of gold which you are returning to Him as a guilt offering in a chest by its side, and send it away, and it shall go.
9“And you shall see, if it goes up the way to its own border, to Bĕyth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that His hand has not come against us – an accident it was to us.”
10And the men did so and took two milk cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut up their calves at home.
11And they put the ark of יהוה on the wagon, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumours.
12And the cows went straight for the way to Bĕyth Shemesh, and went along the highway, bellowing as they went, and did not turn aside, right or left. And the princes of the Philistines went after them to the border of Bĕyth Shemesh.
13And they of Bĕyth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14And the wagon came into the field of Yehoshua of Bĕyth Shemesh and stood there, and there was a great stone. So they split the wood of the wagon and offered the cows as an ascending offering to יהוה.
15And the Lĕwites took down the ark of יהוה and the chest that was with it, in which were the objects of gold, and put them on the great stone. And the men of Bĕyth Shemesh offered ascending offerings and slaughtered slaughterings the same day to יהוה.
16And when the five princes of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Eqron the same day.
17And these are the gold tumours which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to יהוה: one for Ashdoḏ, one for Azzah, one for Ashqelon, one for Gath, one for Eqron,
18and the gold rats, by the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five princes, both walled cities and country villages, even as far as the great meadow on which they placed the ark of יהוה, remain to this day in the field of Yehoshua of Bĕyth Shemesh.
19And He struck among the men of Bĕyth Shemesh, for they had looked into the ark of יהוה. He struck among the people seventy men, and the people mourned because יהוה struck among the people, a great smiting.
20And the men of Bĕyth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this set-apart יהוה Elohim? And to whom shall He go from us?”
21And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Qiryath Ye‛arim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of יהוה. Come down, take it up to you.”
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